To be different
by lemmings-please
Summary: Meraia is in the White Tower, training to become Aes Sedai. The trouble is, she is Aiel. How can she possibly fit in? Chapters reposted for better quality.
1. Meraia

_Hello, welcome to my very first fic! Hope you all read and enjoy! And review, of course... _

**Disclaimer: I own the people. Robert Jordan owns everything else.**

_ _ _ _ _ * 

_ **Chapter One:**   
Meraia_

Embracing the True Source, Meraia wove a small flow of Air and Fire to make a tiny bead of light float above her palm, just to prove that she could. Growling in frustration--not at the light--she snatched it out of the air and crushed it, releasing the flows and _saidar_ both. 

There were two things she was frustrated about. One was that she would never be able to use the spear hidden under her bed. She had gone to all that length to convince and persuade one of the Maidens--once her _fellow_ Maidens--to give it to her, and now she would never need it! 

Another reason of her frustration was the awful clothes she wore. They were all white, and made her feel like she had been made _gai'shain_. Meraia didn't want them to touch her skin. 

_Why?_ she asked herself, for what seemed like the millionth time after coming to Tar Valon a week ago. _Why did they pick me? I could have become a Wise One, or even better, still a Maiden of the Spear back in the Threefold Land, but no, they chose me to come here._ Meraia buried her hands into her white skirts to hide their clenching. She did not want the woman walking through the door to see her anger. 

The woman was Jhirana Koloy--no, just Jhirana, she reminded herself; she must get used to calling people by their first names only--an Accepted that Meraia knew. She was short, dark of hair and eyes, Cairhienin, and not nice at all. She had probably felt the flash of _saidar_ as she was walking by, and come to scold her before going to Kalare Sedai, the Mistress of Novices. 

Jhirana tapped her foot and wrinkled her nose. Their eyes were on the same level, even though Meraia was sitting on her bed. 

"Do you wish to speak, Accepted--" Meraia ducked her head in respect, also using the gesture to hide a small smile "--or do you come to tap your foot at the Aiel girl?" 

Jhirana's eyebrows snapped down. "You... you black-eyed Aiel--" she spat the last word out "--just because you are from the... the thingummy sept of the Ter-dead Aiel doesn't make you better than anyone else. In my opinion--" she sniffed arrogantly as if her opinion was the most important thing in the whole Tower "--it makes you worse." 

Meraia boiled inside at the lack of _ji_ to this statement, but kept her face impassive. "I am Meraia, once _Far Dereis Mai_, of the Jhanei sept of the Tardaad Aiel. I had never seen black eyes except on the few peddlers that came into what you call the Waste," she said, almost reciting from memory. After a pause where she looked at the Accepted through a screen of her red hair, she added, "I notice, also that you have black eyes. Are you a 'black-eyed Aiel' as well?" 

Several novices stood clustered at the open door. They gaped, wide-eyed, at this question. Meraia tried to relax herself. She had most likely broken hundreds of customs these Aes Sedai had, but she didn't care. She thought. 

The other woman was red-faced, and looked ready to breath fire. "Tardaad or Ter-dead, it doesn't matter! You are Aiel! You don't belong here! You and your kind destroyed my city and home twice! Burn you, Aiel! Burn you and all your kind!" 

Meraia's eyes narrowed. The only way for the girl to repay the _toh_ from this was to be made _gai'shain_ for several years, if not _da'tsang_, but that would never work. Jhirana did not follow _ji'e'toh_. Oh well. A good beating would have to suffice, once she was allowed to do so. 

Meraia's voice was soft, deadly, like a coiled snake. "I am sorry, treekiller, for the amount of _toh_ you have to me. You may not have done Laman's sin, so I do not hold Laman's sin against you. It is not well for you that you believe I destroyed the treekiller city. I did not. I am no Shaido. You have no _ji_, no honor. The only thing you have is _toh_. _Toh_ to me-- to all my kind! If I was a Dawn Runner, I would take my spear and kill you here and now, and nobody of any other society, even Stone Dogs, would complain." 

Meraia gave a slow smile at this, and Jhirana took a step back, afraid there was a spear under the bed for the Aiel girl to use. Well, there was, but she did not know that. If she did, she would be running for all her treekiller legs were worth. 

Meraia's smile twisted into a cold frown. "But I will leave you alive for three reasons. One, it would go against my _ji_ to kill a helpless one such as you. Two, _Far Dareis Mai_ is not so hasty as the Dawn Runners. Three, I do not think the Aes Sedai would like it if blood was spilled on their floors." Meraia allowed herself a mournful look at the white-scrubbed floor before glancing up at Jhirana. 

The other girl was not five paces away from the door, her face white as a sheet. At that glance she shoved her way through the crowd of novices towards the Accepted's apartments. Meraia's eyes followed her with a look of contempt. 

The novices murmured among themselves about the Aiel girl who faced off an Accepted-and won. All but one filed away toward their own rooms. The other girl edged hesitantly into the room. 

Meraia unconcernedly smoothed her bed and pulled two cushions from underneath, plopping down on one and gesturing for the other girl to sit on the other. She bit her lip, frowning, and slowly lowered herself onto the cushion. 

The girl was dark-haired and dark-eyed, and reminded Meraia of the wetlanders from where they said eastern Andor was. It didn't matter, anyways. All of the wetlanders hated her, one way or another. 

The girl jerked when Meraia spoke. "I am Meraia of the Jhanei Tardaad." When the shorter girl did not speak, Meraia added, "What is your name?" 

The girl looked at her, seemingly weighing her. Meraia barely hid her fury at the lack of _ji_ to not speaking. She had given the girl everything wetlanders wanted in an introduction. There was a nice place to sit, an introduction of herself, and everything else. 

When she did speak, Meraia nearly jumped. "I am Niyali Verova, from Baerlon." 

Meraia scolded herself. Had she grown soft like a wetlander woman after only a few days in their Tower? 

"I see you, Niyali Verova. I offer you the water of my house," Meraia replied absently. When she realized what she had just said, could only just keep her hands by her side, not over her mouth, and her mouth shut, not babbling an apology and a wish to meet _toh_. She had disobeyed the Wise One Allarra. 

Back across the bridge to Tar Valon, just before she had donned these hideous clothes, Allarra had said to her, _"Learn the ways of the wetlanders, Meraia. You are a guest in their hold. They are not the guests in yours."_ The Wise Ones were still camped across the river--not like the tiny streams in the Threefold Land--to make sure she kept her promises and that she was getting to know the customs. 

Where hesitation was Niyali's face before, there now was eagerness, welcome, and a smile. "I see you, Meraia of the Jhanei Tardaad. I accept the water of your house." Meraia's head jerked up in surprise before a smile grew on her face as well. Perhaps her stay at the tower of Aes Sedai would not be so bad after all. 

_ _ _ _ _ * 

_Okay, that was my first re-vamped chapter. I'm going over them one by one, copying them into an html thing, and italicizing everything again. It's awfully tedious..._


	2. Shadowrunner

**_Chapter Two:_**   
Shadowrunner 

Meraia gingerly sat in her seat in Larana Sedai's class. Today they were learning--at a very slow pace--how to make balls of light, and things to do with them. Fortunately, she had already learned these things in the Wise One's camp on the journey from the Threefold Land to Tar Valon. 

Meraia's eyes wandered across the room to Niyali, clutching her skirts with raw, red hands. Meraia turned her own hands palm up to study. 

They were as raw and tender as Niyali's, but she remembered when they were redder, skin scalded away in an "accident". Only Niyali's newfound Talent at Healing could save them. 

It wasn't that she feared to lose her hands, or even to die--to wake from the dream that was life; she remembered her favorite mourning song: Life is a Dream. It was just that the loss of her hands would only set her further apart from everyone in this Light-forsaken Tower. It was the difference between them, and the shame it brought, that she feared--not that she would ever admit it. 

The memory of the "accident" with the bucket of water sent her reeling back into two days ago... 

_ _ _ _ _ * 

Meraia carefully dipped her rag into the tiny bucket of water she had set aside for this enormous pot, which was large enough to take a bath in, not that she would want to. Wringing the rag out, she stuck her head, shoulders, and upper body back into the vat, scraping off bits of dried porridge. 

Her face was a mask of calm. Underneath, she seethed with pure fury. Couldn't she be just one, _gai'shain_ or student? Unfortunately, novices seemed to be both. She couldn't wait to become Accepted--even those seven thin bands of color were better than these horrible _gai'shain_ robes. 

Picking off a piece of dried porridge with her fingernail, Meraia asked Niyali, "How long are we supposed to do this for, anyway?" 

"How am I supposed to know? Kalare Sedai only said 'Until they know better'. It wasn't my idea to go through those gates," she grumbled. 

Meraia flushed. They had tried to go into the Water Garden through the maingates, and had passed an Aes Sedai coming out. She knew that novices weren't permitted entrance this way, and had taken them all the way up to Kalare's study by the ears. The biggest problem of all was that it hadn't been Niyali's idea at all. 

Taking her anger out on the pot, Meraia scrubbed furiously. Niyali shifted inside her own cauldron, knocking her foot against the large water pail full of hot sudsy water. Meraia moaned as some splashed out, creating a large puddle on the tiled kitchen floor. Good water! That much could have satisfied her for nearly a week when she was a Maiden in the Threefold Land. Or given her a thorough washing in the sweat tent. 

Niyali's head appeared from the mouth of the cauldron to see what Meraia had moaned about. Looking around, she noticed the very good-sized puddle on the floor between Meraia and the door into the kitchen. Niyali seemed to understand what worried Meraia better than others in the Tower, but react to it just as strangely. Wetlanders had other priorities, Meraia had realized. 

Meraia returned to her pot as the cook's head appeared in the doorway, continuing to scrub with a rag that a _wetlander_ would have dipped in the soapy water again. Rubbing hard at a stubborn patch of porridge, Meraia felt Niyali embrace the Source. 

Sticking her head out of her pot to watch the flows being woven, Meraia gasped. The threads being used were not only finer than any Wise One's or Aes Sedai's, but far more complex and interesting than anything she had seen yet. 

It was an intricate Twist of Air, Water, and Fire, one Meraia had seen before, sort of. What she had seen was Air and Water used to call a storm, though she had not seen it before leaving the Threefold Land. The Fire reminded her of something used to heat liquids. 

What she saw now was Water and Air to call moisture from the air around her--a lot, because of the steam--with Fire woven in to heat it to the scalding point. Another weave was made entirely of Air like a cloth--it looked like a washcloth, and Meraia was sure it felt and worked like one too--and used the hot water called from the air to vigorously scrape and scald away a stubborn soup stain. 

"How did you do that?" asked Meraia, stunned. 

"What?" asked Niyali. 

"_That_," Meraia said. "How did you get the flows so fine? And where did you find out how to scour them like that?" 

"What flows? Show me," Niyali said, being stubborn. 

Meraia frowned but embraced the Source and carefully removed the stubborn stain from the inside of her own pot. Niyali stared, wide-eyed, at where the lump of porridge had been. 

"I did that?" she breathed. "I did that, and didn't even know it?" 

"What did you say?" asked an all-too-familiar voice. Meraia suddenly sensed that the woman behind her could channel. 

Turning slowly, Meraia looked up--not very far--to see none other than Jhirana. What surprised her was that, instead of the banded white, she was wearing a red riding dress embroidered in black. More important, however, was the shawl with the Flame of Tar Valon on the back, with long red fringe. 

"I didn't hear that," Jhirana continued, "but I don't need to. You just channeled, Aiel, even though you know that it is against the rules to channel during a penace." 

"Why are you down here?" Meraia growled. 

"I don't have to answer that. After all--" she adjusted her shawl deliberately "--I am Aes Sedai." 

"You sure don't ACT like one," Meraia whispered loudly, half inside her pot so the sound echoed. 

Jhirana's face purpled. She was obviously trying to be calm, like an Aes Sedai would be, but she wasn't doing a very good job. 

Meraia still held saidar, and was amazed as a flow of Spirit--all Five Powers, but mostly Spirit--leaped out of her. It was finer than lace ever could be, finer than even Niyali's dishwashing weave, and it settled upon Jhirana. 

Jhirana froze where she stood, and Meraia froze where she sat. Her skin went cold. An image appeared in the puddle on the floor between the two still women. Niyali bent over to get a better look before she froze too, caught in the weave. Jhirana couldn't see from her position. Meraia and Niyali could. 

Everything else--the cook, the steam from the hot bucket of water, everything--slowed to a halt. The picture in the puddle of water sped up. It showed Jhirana holding the Oath Rod and speaking the Three Oaths. 

Jhirana bowed before the Amyrlin Seat, and recieved her red-fringed shawl. Here the picture whirled faster, into a blur, fast enough to make Meraia's eyes spin, into the night, down the steps into the _ter'angreal_ storeroom, where it slowed. Jhirana picked the Oath Rod up off a dusty shelf. She took a hold of _saidar_ and channeled into the Rod. 

Here she spoke in a whisper, "I swear by the Great Lord of the Dark and by my hope of immortality under the Shadow, to do everything I can to benefit the Great Lord, and to obey him unto death. This I swear." 

Meraia would have gasped, and Niyali too, had they not been frozen in time. The Jhirana in the puddle spoke again as she let saidar go and put down the Oath Rod. "I forsake the Red. I am Black Ajah." 

The puddle flashed and went back to normal, the three women nearly fell in it as their bonds were released, and time resumed. Niyali backed away from the Aes Sedai in horror, trying to pull Meraia with her. 

Meraia's face hardened, and she stood to tower over the Aes Sedai. It helped that Jhirana was short for a treekiller, and Meraia was tall for even an Aiel. "Shadowrunner," she whispered. 

"Darkfriend," Niyali agreed. 

Jhirana's face paled, but turned to red-faced anger in a second. 

"It's Kalare's study for you," she said haughtily, though Meraia thought she was trying for icyness (A/N: coldness? frostiness? something like that...), "if it isn't expulsion from the Tower." 

She used a flow of Air to press Meraia back down to the ground. Then she turned and quickly kicked. The bucket of hot water--hot enough to scald--spilled all over Meraia's hands. 

Meraia didn't cry out, she only grunted. Jhirana looked back and said, "I'll get you," in a tone that dripped poison. Then she stalked out. 

"Niyali," Meraia said, steadily holding out her hands for Healing even though they burned like fire. Niyali looked at them and gasped. She grabbed them and wove a Healing. 

_ _ _ _ _ * 

"Meraia, are you paying attention? Make a ball of light. Just this shade of blue, mind you." 

"Yes, Larana Sedai." 

_ _ _ _ _* 

_Blah blah blah... I hate this. After finishing revamping this one, I'm going to go play some air hockey or something..._


	3. The Past is Over

_**Chapter 3:**   
The Past is Over_

Peeking through the gaps in her fingers, Meraia watched Niyali dodge through the rows of bookshelves in the section of the Library dedicated to the Shadow. Halting, the other girl pulled an old-looking book off the shelf. 

Niyali walked over to Meraia's table, book already opened and being studied. Meraia quickly cast her eyes back to the thick volume she was supposed to be looking at. 

_"Darkfriends are those who have given their souls to serve the Dark One, known to them as the Great Lord of the Dark. They are spread across every land, with no attention to any particular country, rank, or any other means of social setup. They wait for the time that may come when Shayol Ghul is opened--"_

Meraia sighed and said, "Niyali, I don't see--" 

"Shh! I think I've found something." She scribbled furiously on a scrap of paper. 

Meraia rubbed her forehead, exasperated. When Niyali stopped scribbling madly, she continued, "I don't see why you're suddenly looking for information about the--" she paused, glancing around, and lowered her voice "--the Black Ajah." 

Niyali raised her head from the book, determination fixed on her face. "We know the truth. You found some sort of spell to look into the past, or something. We know Jhirana is a Darkfriend. We _know_ she is. I saw those weaves. I didn't understand them, really, but I could tell they were meant to show the truth." 

Meraia looked at her skeptically. Niyali's face reddened. "We may know Jhirana is a Shadowrunner," Meraia said quietly, "but where did it get us? A visit to Kalare's office." Niyali winced and fingered a welt on her arm. 

"We might find something, though," Niyali said, stubborn. 

"Come on, Niyali. What are we going to find out about the Black Ajah in the White Tower? The Aes Sedai deny its very existence." 

Niyali sighed, determination fading, and rubbed her nose. That was a sign of thoughfulness. "I'll tell you what I found in the morning," she said. "Let's go to sleep." 

_ _ _ _ _ * 

As the two young women left the Library, returning their books to the shelves, the dark-haired, shorter one putting a scrap of paper in her pocket, the woman in the shadows relaxed. She had been sure they would see her. Oh well. She had work to do--every servant in the Tower did--but she needed to report to her mistress. 

_ _ _ _ _ * 

Dawn peeped through the window. The noise of a city awakening did as well. But there was nothing from the room next door. She had heard nothing since early that morning, when Meraia heard something about "First Bell" and "go away", and then a steady pulsing of _saidar_. Nothing. 

The door latch into Niyali's room clicked. Meraia jerked into full wakefulness and tensed, ready to embrace the Source and do... something. 

There was a noise, like paper being crammed into something small. Then there was a creak--probably the door latch again--and then silence. Meraia noiselessly slid off her bed and went to the peephole in the wall. A tightly rolled piece of parchment blocked it. 

Prying the paper out, Meraia bit her lip. There was too little _ji_ in this--even by wetlander standards--for it to be right. 

'The girl has been taken to the Black Hills. She was too curious. Curiosity killed the cat. --the Black Ajah' 

Yes. This went too far over the borders of even this wetlander _ji'e'toh_ for it to be good for Niyali. Meraia did not like it when _ji'e'toh_ was broken. They would pay. 

Thinking hard about who she could go to for help, Meraia's eyes flashed. Then she smiled dangerously. She had to see the Amyrlin. 

_ _ _ _ _ * 

"But I _must_ see her!" Meraia cried, trying to pull free of the bonds of Air that the Keeper of the Chronicles had held her with. 

"Listen to reason, child. Niyali could not possibly have run away." 

"She _didn't_ run away! She was taken by the Black Aj--" A block of Air stuffed itself into her mouth, cutting her off. She reached to embrace _saidar_, only to find that she was shielded. 

Meraia strained to see the person shielding her, but couldn't. She slammed herself at the glass wall cutting her off from the True Source, and it shattered easily, to her surprise. She heard gasps from the Keeper and the other woman as well. 

Deftly, she spun shields and slammed them into place between the women and the Source, never mind that both of them were already holding _saidar_. The bonds holding her collapsed, so she ran into the Amyrlin's study. 

From behind, before she closed the door, she heard the two Aes Sedai's whispered conversation. 

"How did she manage to hold that much?" was the strangled whisper of the woman who had shielded her. 

I believe she hadn't quite grown all the way into her power yet. We hadn't asked her to hold all she could since she arrived last month." 

"But this late? This fast? It's impossible!" 

"Apparently not." 

The door closed. The Amyrlin looked up from her stack of papers. 

"Mother, my near-sister, Niyali, has been taken by Shadowrunner Aes Sedai," Meraia said urgently. 

The Amyrlin looked puzzled for a moment, but then her expression changed to one of frustration. "Shadowrunner means Darkfriend, so you mean the Black Ajah." It was not a question. 

"Yes, Mother." Meraia shifted her feet uneasily at what she was about to say. It was most definitely not how one dealt with Wise Ones, and Meraia was sure that the Aes Sedai--who were far more concerned with rank and social standing than she was--would be extra difficult. "Mother, I wish to go after her." 

"Nonsense!" the Amyrlin shouted, rising from her elaborate chair. "You don't even have any proof that she was--" 

Meraia wordlessly held out the message from the peephole. The Amyrlin snatched it out of her hand, skimming it before grimacing and throwing it onto her desk. 

"Still, absolutely not! Don't you understand how dangerous the Black Ajah is for a simple nov--" 

"Do I fear danger?" Meraia said haughtily. "Do you mean to take my _ji_ away?" Her jaw tensed ever so slightly, but in an Aiel it was like a harsh drawing of breath meant to control anger. "I have faced many things, things a wetlander would run from as soon as blink, and come out laughing!" 

The Amyrlin was all Aes Sedai serenity, but her voice was ice. "No. You will stay here. Your past is over now." 

Meraia froze. Those words echoed over her, through her, inside of her. _'Your past is over now...'_ She would never again dance the spears under the full moon in the harsh wind of the Threefold Land. She could feel it now, dust on her skin, veil over face, spear in hand, pure exhilaration and joy running through her heart. She almost expected to see some fallen foe before her, instead of the Amyrlin, a frown on her face. _'Your past is over now...'_

Never again laugh with Kara, her spear-sister, over oosquai. She could feel it again, the smooth glass in hand, cushions under her crossed legs, the coziness of the tent around her, the sweet taste of the oosquai on her tongue, the mirth of what Kara had just said about Stone Dogs running through her mind. _'Your past is over now...'_

Meraia blinked, and was startled to find a single tear running down her cheek. The Amyrlin looked at her, concern and sternness warring with each other on her face. As she opened her mouth, Meraia spoke. 

"Even if the past is over, I am still who I am. I have _toh_, and _toh_ must be repaid." The harsh words seemed to distract her from the incessant echoing of the Amyrlin's words, _'Your past is over now...'_

"Still," the Amyrlin said, "I forbid you to go." 


	4. Light in the Wall

_** Chapter Four:**   
Light in the Wall_

Niyali groggily opened her eyes, wincing as sweat and blood got into them. She rubbed her head as a lump on it throbbed. 

She shuddered, remembering what--besides her injuries--had caused her headache. 

_ _ _ _ _ * 

There was a thump. Niyali opened her eyes and lifted her face out of her pillow. "First Bell hasn't rung yet," she muttered, "go away." 

There was another thump. "I have no intention of going away," whispered a very familiar voice. 

Niyali put her face back in the pillow and said, "Well, wait until First Bell anyway." Then she stiffened. She recognized that voice. It was Jhirana. 

"What are you--" In a flash Jhirana embraced the Source to hold Niyali down and pry her jaws apart. Then a minty tea was stuffed down her throat. 

Gagging, Niyali tried to embrace _saidar_--but it was gone. Where was it? It wasn't like shielding. It was as if the Source was gone. Had she been... stilled? 

She tried to sit up, but could barely manage to move her head. Jhirana laughed softly and made a stretcher to lift Niyali with. Cloaking Niyali and the stretcher with Air to make them invisible, and then inverting the weaves, Jhirana laughed again before Niyali lapsed into unconsciousness. 

When she woke, Jhirana and six other Aes Sedai were surrounding her. One spoke. 

You know something, girl. You are too valuable to be let loose." 

"What do I know?" asked Niyali thickly. Her head felt stuffed with wool. 

Something invisible lashed her ear. "Tell us." 

"I don't know," Niyali moaned, trying vainly to move her finger. For all she could do, she was a disembodied head. It was _most_ uncomfortable. 

After a while of this--where Niyali was thankfully distracted from most of the pain by trying to move various body parts--she was thrown in a cell, shielded. How was she ever going to escape? 

_ _ _ _ _ * 

Meraia clutched a tightly rolled bundle of clothes to her chest as she hurried along the corridors of the White Tower, trying to look as if she was on an errand for an Aes Sedai. In fact, she was just worried that someone would embrace the Source and feel the resonance in the _angreal_ and _ter'angreal_ she had "borrowed" for her mission. 

The _angreal_ was the strongest she dared take and thought that nobody would notice when gone. It was a small mirror, seemingly made of glass, though unbreakable, as most _angreal_ seemed to be. When light shone on it, rainbows spread across its surface, lasting for minutes longer than the light itself. 

The _ter'angreal_ was what some would call a Well. It stored the One Power, and allowed you to draw on what was inside even in a stedding, or when shielded. The one she had taken was a plain gold necklace with a single green stone as a pendant. It appeared normal, until one tried to focus on it. Eyes... slid off of it, like oil on water. Earlier, she had stored as much _saidar_ in it as she could. 

Ducking into her room, Meraia quickly shed the _gai'shain_ robes for an algode blouse, thick wool skirts, kerchief, and a shawl. Fixing a displeased expression upon her face, Meraia strode into the main corridor. People spread a space around her, hoping not to be the focus of that gaze. 

The Wise Ones had been trying to see her since a few days ago. Who was to say that this wasn't just another unsuccessful visit? Only Meraia. 

Walking out of the Tower, across the city and into an inn whose innkeeper had made arrangements with her earlier, who seemingly "understood perfectly". She nodded to the plump innkeeper and ducked into the private dining room. 

There she changed out of her Wise One's apprentice garb with a sigh, replacing it with a green dress divided for riding, embroidered in white, given to her by the kindly innkeeper. Slipping the glass mirror _angreal_ into the pocket and clasping the necklace _ter'angreal_ on, she bundled her other clothes together again. 

Pushing the door open, she came face-to-face--if you can call a tall Aiel and short Andoran standing right next to each other "face-to-face"--with the innkeeper. "Yes?" Meraia asked uncomfortably. 

"I know what you're up to," the innkeeper said. "You're running away, aren't you?" She smiled knowingly. "I'll help." 

Holding back a relieved sigh, Meraia smiled gratefully. 

You need to go to Ebou Dar. The Kin will help you there," said the innkeeper seriously. 

Meraia nodded vigorously. She could get off the island with the innkeeper's help, then head for the Black Hills. Wait. 

Was that really her thought? The thought of one once _Far Dareis Mai_? It seemed she became more like Aes Sedai every day... 

_ _ _ _ _ * 

Niyali wiped wetness from her face with one hand, and searched the dirty stone walls of her medium-sized cell with the other. She had no idea why she searched the walls, she just did. 

After all, she was shielded by no less than six sisters! If even one of them let go of _saidar_, or even just dropped the link, Niyali was sure she could break through. She ran her mind along that smooth glass wall in her mind just as she ran her hands along the stone wall. 

Niyali was frantic. Wiping her sticky and dirty hand on her skirt, she went back to groping at the wall with both hands. Suddenly, her finger caught in something. A hole! 

Extracting her finger, Niyali bent to examine it in the darkness. She gently pulled a lump of moss out of the hole, placing it carefully on the floor where she could find it again. 

A thin stream of sunlight peeped through the tiny hole. "Oh, Light, thank you!" Niyali whispered, bending to draw in a breath of clear, fresh air. It was sweeter than anything she had ever tasted before in her life, after the musty confines of the cell. 

The rusty iron lock on the door rattled. Niyali immediately put the plug of moss back into the hole. She then put her face in her dirty hands and began sobbing quietly, shaking slightly, watching the door warily through her fingers. 

It opened with a squeak and a groan to reveal Jhirana, with a long iron key in one hand. The air around Niyali pushed her to her feet, leaving her to stumble towards the door. 

"Perhaps your tongue will loosen this time," Jhirana said. "We do have our ways of finding things out, after all." 

Niyali began fake-sobbing again, though the terror I her eyes she did not need to fake. Light, please let her be able to keep quiet! Just until Meraia came for her! 'Because she will come,' Niyali thought fiercely. Meraia wouldn't leave her to this... she hoped. 


End file.
